亚洲国家宪政发展的道路初探:五大国家的比较研究

作为亚洲五国的中国、印度、南北韩(韩国和朝鲜)、日本与印度尼西亚宪政发展道路各有不同。究竟源于西方社会的宪政模式是否在其发源地以外也具有普遍适用性?亚洲又是否存在特殊的宪政模式或政治体制?如果我们从宏观历史与比较研究的角度审视这五国自十九世纪末直到今天的发展,便可发现,在现代和当代时期,宪政主义在亚洲还是产生了深远的影响。但是,亚洲似乎没有产生特殊的"亚洲式"的宪政模式或政治体制,也没有足够证据显示亚洲的文化与价值观念与宪政主义难以相容。恰恰相反,宪政主义能否在某一国家或地区得以实施,似乎更多地取决于政治因素,以及战争、外国干预等具偶然性的历史事件的影响,而不是主要取决于文化与价值观念。

Initial Research on Pathway of Constitutional Development of the Five Major Asian Nations

The pathways of constitutional development taken by the five major Asian nations of India, China, Korea, Japan and Indonesia have been different. Does constitutionalism in the form it has evolved in the West have any universal appeal and application far beyond the Western nations in which it originated？ Are there distinctly Asian forms of constitutionalism or political-constitutional practices？ A macro-historical and comparative review of constitu-tional developments in these five nations from the late 19th century up to the present suggests that constitutionalism has significantly broadened and deepened its reach in Asia in modem and contemporary times. It also suggests that no distinctly Asian mode of constitutionalism or political-constitutional practices can be identified. Nor is there evi-dence that Asian culture and values are particularly resistant to constitutionalism. On the contrary, there is evidence that whether constitutionalism prevails in a particular jurisdiction is determined more by politics and the contingency of historical events such as wars and foreign interventions than by culture and values.